Education consortium lands READI funding
A group of higher education institutions in northern Indiana has secured more than $1.1 million in funding from the state’s Regional Economic Acceleration and Development Initiative, or READI.
The funding will support health sciences programs at Indiana University South Bend, Ivy Tech Community College South Bend-Elkhart, Saint Mary’s College and Marian University’s Ancilla College.
IU South Bend said the group, known as the Regional Higher Education Talent Pipeline and Partnership Consortium, was born out of regular meetings during the pandemic hosted by IU South Bend Chancellor Susan Elrod.
“We were already meeting regularly, so we were able to mobilize efficiently to secure READI funding when the opportunity arose,” Elrod said in written remarks. “The group proposal allowed each institution to identify its core needs related to healthcare and advanced technology.”
IU South Bend will use its portion of the funding to support continued progress on the Dwyer Healthcare Simulation Center, which will be utilized by the university’s radiography and nursing programs.
Ivy Tech’s funding will benefit its Mobile Career and Certifications Laboratory, while Ancilla College will acquire equipment for its Leep Family Nursing Skills Lab.
Saint Mary’s College will use its funding to add more equipment for its interdisciplinary learning and clinic space for speech language pathology and nursing students.
The consortium is also using funding to launch the Healthcare Talent Partnership. Led by IU South Bend, the partnership seeks to bring together higher education, K-12 schools, healthcare and economic development organizations to improve healthcare talent attraction and retention in the region.
“We must ensure that our region has sufficient healthcare professionals so that we can always meet the demand, and keep everyone healthy,” Elrod said. “The pandemic made it clear that short staffing in a public health crisis can have catastrophic consequences. Modern facilities will help attract increased enrollments and, consequently, better healthcare options will help make our region more appealing to any citizen.”
The funding comes from the Northern Indiana Regional Development Authority’s allocation of the $500 million awarded through the READI program in December 2021. The RDA was one of five regions to receive the full $50 million allocation.